The Final Frontier
by See More Glasses
Summary: Malcolm meets an alliance officer abandoned on a neglected space station that is a remnant of the war. Their contrary dispositions and certain circumstances lead to a confrontation that feels all too familiar and Malcolm is forced to cross all lines.
1. Watchout for the purple cloud

I don't own the rights to much of anything, much less a story. This is the property of those whose its the property of, which isn't me. I suppose Joss Whedon is one of them, and fox is some, and I'm sure there's a bunch of others. I'm just kind of messing around here.

The plan at this moment is to have each chapter be a sort of scene. I can't seem to write this in any way that isn't reminiscent of a TV show, it just didn't feel right; so each chapter will be like a scene and when the stories finished It'll hopefully end up reminiscent of how a TV show would end up.

And yes, I realize this kind of thing is dorky but hey, judge lightly, we're all being kind of dorky here.

* * *

In the infinity of space a suited man stands firm upon the hull of a ship darkened with the dents and rust of age sailing between the stars as a reminder of man's own imperfection. The reflection of a spacious purple cloud projects onto the visor of his helmet. On the side of the ship are the golden words of SERENITY.

The mess hall is clean by contrast and the noise of the crew eating is severe.

"Say hi to all the nice pretty stars Mal?" The gun for hire, Jayne, asks.

"Actually I was greetin' that fair maid's whose yard we stumbled into."

"What do you think of it cap?" -The Engineer asks. Pretty thing, young, peppy, with striking hair of pure red.

"She aint gonna cause no fuss. Just a pretty lass."

"Won't even scream when we penetrate'er, eh?" Jayne again. He laughs the type of laugh that Mal reckons rapists would laugh.

"You're a pig, Jayne!"

"Huh, comin' from you Inara that means...nothin'."

"Well, if anyone needs me I'll be in my ship." Inara leaves.

"I'll be in my ship." Jayne apes a girl's voice for the mock, "Isn't that your ship Mal?"

"It doesn't matter. It aint no time to be stirrin' up trouble anyway."

"Stirrin', who's stirrin?"

"Jayne, go tell Wash to continue course."

"Shouldn't you've done that already?"

"Are you questioning my leadership?"

"Kinda."

"Just go!"

"Right, right, got it cap."

Jayne leaves and the engineer, Kaylee, follows soon after headed towards the engine room, "I wanna be with her when we hit that cloud. You know, just in case."

Mal smiles, "That's my girl."

The man is now standing in silence and imagines the cold depths of space washing over him. The emptiness comes into him and out the other side taking with it all that uncertainty and unidentified burdens that plague his heart.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were praying."

"Good thing you know better then. Say, you were being awfully quiet. Didn't Jayne offend your delicate sensibilities Shepard? I'm surprise you didn't speak up, a kind word from you just might've saved his dirty rotten soul."

"Oh there's no use in talking to that boy. He's got his nature, just as I have mine and you have yours."  
"And just what exactly is your nature Shepard?"

"I'd like to believe it's godly."

"I was under the impression that was a recent affliction."

"Were all of us made according to God's nature."

"Even me? Tell me Shepard, what's my nature?"

The heavy silence harbored a peculiar pregnancy that led Mal to expect, against the wisdom of experience, that he was going to receive an answer to his question. And then a loud blare interrupted their moment accompanied by a violent surge of the ship that accosted him of both his moment and curiosity.

"Captain we got some trouble!" The pilot spoke.

"Yeah, Wash, I noticed!"

Then the voice of Jayne came through the speaker, distant, unaware that someone outside the room could be privy to that oh so soothing sound of his voice, "I thought he said the cloud was harmless with all that talk about rapin' her and such? Why do we listen to the captain? Who lets him make those kinds of scientific like judgements?"

"It's not the cloud Jayne its somethin' else."

"Come on Wash, I'm darkening here."

"Just give me a moment to test a theory."

Another voice came through the speaker, "It's test a hypothesis, dear."

"Why thank you darling, I'm going to test a hypothesis Mal."

The ship shook violently again, nearly toppling Malcom over.

"I don't care if your testing a gorram Cantonian tangerine mud fly just tell me what the hell is going on with my ship!"

"It's a neutralizer Captain."

"Bu Hao! Christ!" Malcolm didn't turn around to see the concerned look on the Shepherd's face at his outburst. "Ok, they're probably waiting for us on the other side of this cloud. Ok, Wash, are you sure we can't turn at all?"

"Left or right Cap."

"Ok, what about the other dimension?"

"I've tested out the plains of X, Y, and Z and it's a no go."

"Gorramit!" Although the frustration was hiding his mind from him he found a moment to turn to Book, "I hope you don't take to wrongly to my curses."

"I'd expect nothing less from you, Malcolm Reynolds."

"Of course you wouldn't, all right Wash, I'm coming up. If you can slow this boat down and if at all possible bring us to a stop. If someone wants us so badly to follow this specific course it might be best if, y'know, we don't."

"Awaiting you with baited breath Cap."

Malcolm rushed out of the ships mess hall and up to the cockpit fighting with a sudden fit of desperation on the way.


	2. Campfire Tales

"Where are you going?" The teenage girl startles Mal backwards and onto the ground. Her vacant eyes peer through the stringy jungle of her hair and unsettles him.

He stood, "If it's all the same to you, River, I'm going to go save our collective shiny ass."

He rushes around her and leaves her standing in the hallway, a child's silhouette merged with a shadowy background.

"You're lying." She says and it follows him down the hallway like the whispering pleas of a conscience crying beneath the years of experience and dirt that cover it. Those words were bothering to him but he could not discern why and as he enters the cockpit that feeling is overlooked for more pragmatic concerns.

"Oh Captain, so glad you could join us." Wash, the golden haired pilot speaks, " Jayne here was just about to bust out the s'mores and lead us in a beautiful rendition of kumbaya."

"I was?"

"Sorry I'm late, got held up"

"Oh you know, it's not like we'reallabouttodie!"

"Oh, really? That's great news! I'll be in my quarters if you need me." Silence follows for a brief moment, "What? Joking!"

"Not really the best time Captain," Wash's wife Zoe says, her arms crossed, face solemn.

"Well, he started it... . Right, so what's the diagnosis?"

"It's a neutrilizer, about yay round (he made a movement with his hands to indicate how big it was (it was really small)) caught on the ship."

"How? Was it thrown?"

"By who? We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Y'know, like a catapult thing."

"..."

"They have those y'know."

"No, this was most likely floating around and we just ran into it."

"Ran into what exactly?" -Jayne.

Mal responds, "It's a neutrilizer. Saw a few back in the war. Alliance was experimenting with new and fancy ways to kill us. Once attatched to a ship it kinda locks'em in place. Can't speed up, can't decrease, can't move without sendin' her into a fit. Of course, downside is all you gotta do is remove the device and everything's good as new. S'pose that's why they never really caught on but during the unification the good guys tossed away plenty of interesting devices in an attempt to make something that could subdue any insurrections with as little killin' as possible. Once you dawn on a shiny new white hat I suppose you'd try pretty hard not to muck it up. So Wash, how long 'til we clear this cloud?"

"About an hour."

"That's plenty of time. Jayne, Zoe, get some suits on. There's a chance we've hit more than one of those things and there might be a chance we might hit more before we clear and if we don't have control of Serenity by the time that happens it'll be like shootin' a pig in a pen."

"Can I say something?" Jayne raises his hand, "I got me some objections to goin' out in this cloud. Can't you get the doc instead? He aint been of much use lately."

"Clouds Harmless," Mal responds, "And we can't go usin' the doc unless there's a mighty big need. We only got one doc on the ship. Wash, tell Kaylee to be prepared to burn. If we don't do this quickly enough we're gonna wanna come at'em with as much speed as we got."

Mal leaves and Zoe follows with Jayne a few seconds later grumbling, "I aint replaceable neither," And then, "Hey! What about the preacher?"


	3. Breasts and Neutrilizers

Sorry about the tense confusion on the last chapter. One of my oh so many reviews said that they thought that present tense was a fine way to tell a story but I didn't even really notice that it was present tense and it really messed with me when trying to write the next part 'cause honestly I wasn't sure how to force myself to write either past or present. I worked something out in this chapter, though, so here's to a non-confusing narrative. I liked this little segment so I hope you do too, and not just 'cause I put the word breasts in the title. Sickos.

So yeah, cheers.

* * *

Inara moves gracefully; the silk slides down her shoulders sensually and she experiences each moment with intensity. Despite speculation from the more...perversely curious or morally judgmental crowd the power of a Companion is derived from empathy, not manipulation. The sheet hits the floor and her sensitive skin becomes cold momentarily before adjusting. She sits down on the floor. Empathy is derived from meditation, connecting yourself to your environment and attuning to the emotional wavelengths that are all around you unseen, like radio waves. A focused mind becomes attentive to the fluctuations of these waves and can act to persuade them in accordance to one's wishes. If she were of a more secure location she would have done this in the nude; however, in spite of her adamant requests, she cannot expect that a visitor to her room would announce himself...

The glass thuds hard, which is startling in space where such advanced speeds would cause any solid object to be a threat to ship safety.

"What...?"

On the glass of her ship there is a man in a spacesuit. He has landed upon it, sprawled out, like a fly on the windshield of a hovercraft. Curiosity depriving her of her whits she rushes to the glass to see to her befuddlement that the space suited man is connected to a rope. Then to her horror she sees that the face of the man in the suit is the face of Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

"Hello!" He shouts.

She feels embarrassed and despite her sharpest focus she cannot prevent the red from warming her cheeks.

"Oh relax; it's not like I haven't seen'em before. They're just as nice as I remember. Two thumbs up!" And he does give her two thumbs up, "Well, gotta go, work to do! Keep up the good!" And then he was gone.

Inara scrambles to clothe herself and then to make her way to the cockpit to ascertain what situation warranted Malcolm to be scurrying around the outside of the ship.

* * *

Jayne crawls along the top of the ship towards a small round black device that sticks out like a zit on the metal surface.

"Any?" Came Mal's voice through his helmet.

"Just the one."

"Good, grab it and then make your ways towards the underbelly. We'll meet you there."

"How are any of'em gonna get down there? We're movin' forward Mal, it aint like some device is gonna fall upwards."

"Jayne." His voice was stern if not a bit condescending, "It's space."

"Yeah? So?"

"Nevermind. Just do what I say."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Meet you at the underbelly."

"And Jayne?"

"Yeah?" He was getting a bit annoyed.

"You don't have to crawl. It aint doin' you any good. You can't stay below the cloud line."

"Yeah well it aint doin' me no harm either. Wash said we got plenty of time so I aint gonna take any unnecessary risks."

"Fair enough."

He reached it and pulled at the circular device. It wouldn't come off. He had to bend down and grasp it with both hands and jerk up like he was doin' a power squat with a barbell. The force knocked him off balance and he began to wave his arms frantically, like one of those cartoon characters who take one step too far off the cliff in order to regain his balance.

"Got it."

Then he heard an ominous thud. He looked over to see another device clinging to the ship's surface. Then there was another thud. He turned his head in the other direction to see another neutralizer clinging to the ships surface. Then the noise began to sounds like heavy rain on an aluminum roof as neutralizers began to paint the surface in black. He looked up and saw that these little devices were saturating the purple insides of the cloud like tiny little insects in one of those insect hive thingies.

"Mal! Mal! I got a feelin' this aint no trap!"


	4. Meet the Antagonist

I'm not saying I'm review starved but a little encouragement here and there would not go unappreciated. If you took the time to read it I'd even take constructive criticism. If you hate it and took the time to read it you're kind of a masochist and if you're dead set on letting me know you hated it just leave your review in a code word; just one single word. Hate should be expressed curtly and with little embelishment as possible. This code word will be "Babakanushe."

But it goes without saying that if you loved it and want to let me know, use as many words and embellishments as you feel is necessary. I'd also accept praise in the forms of poems (preferably epic) and song and dance.

...

* * *

The poised man stands with his hands crossed behind his back. The peak of a firefly class starship pierces the cloud's barrier on his large window into space and he his Grimly delighted. Coating the ship is shockingly large number of neutralizers. Against his natural empathy and a dormant feeling of guilt he finds the image humorous. He calls their ship. Eventually a video screen unfolds before him and on it stands a man in a strikingly brown colored coat.

"Hello."

"H-" He tries to talk but his throat doesn't comply and it takes him another try to speak, "Hello." He coughs, "Sorry about that; it has been a long time since I've had visitors."

"No worries there." A pause, "Say, you weren't plannin' on killin' us and stealin' my ship were you?"

He chuckles; it feels good and weird and foreign, "No, I wasn't. But I am sorry to see you've ran into my mess. I have to say that I feel obliged to make it right."

"And how'd you plan on doin' that?"

"Well, as you can see by now this outpost isn't what it used to be so I severely doubt I'll be able to dock you; However, there are more primitive ways to anchor you to this outpost. Your ship isn't moving very fast so we could hook you, give you a place to rest while you remove your impediments."

"Sounds awfully shiny in theory but I can't help but notice that's an awfully nice blue coat your wearin'. I aint seen one of those so far out in the middle of nowhere since...well, I have a mighty big suspicion you know when."

"You are gravely right. And that isn't a Shakespearean pun."

"A what?"

"Nevermind. I don't have any intention of harming you. And unless I'm perverted enough to derive some enjoyment from deluding you before I kill you I must point out that killing you would not be hard."

"Now that you point it out I don't s'pose we really do have a choice do we? But I gotta mention that you aint farin' to well yourself pengyou."

"No, there is nothing fare about this situation. I'll drop the hooks, I admit that its your decision to use them or not but I implore you to accept my offer. Although, relative to your usual flight times the next planet might not be so far away when you can crawl no faster than a horseless wagon it will take you more than one life time to reach your destination."

"Right again. Glad to see those alliance educations aint total bull. I'm Captain Reynolds and this here's my starship, Serenity."

"Wonderful name. I'm Captain Grey, and this, I suppose, is my ship, though by this point in time it's through default. It's name has been through a lot of changes. It started out as Charlotte, which the crew affectionately referred to as the Temple. But me, I just call it the graveyard."

"I can't imagine why."

"I look forward to meeting with you Captain Reynolds."

"Likewise."

He turned the com off feeling apprehensive with anticipation.

* * *

Malcolm turned to his crew who were ducked out of the view from the screen in the cockpit. Jayne speaks first,

"We aint really trustin' this guy, are we?"

"He didn't give me the creeps, so yeah."

"That's your decision like process thingy? No like, special captain's sense or nuthin'?"

"Come on, we gotta grab those hooks before we clear. Zoe?"

"Roger."

"Ok, Wash, get everyone caught up to date and armed."

Wash responds with status quo incredulity, "Seriously?"

"What?"

"I mean, get 'up to date and armed?' Whatever happened to "Get everyone up to date and gett'em dressed up for a nice evening on the gigantic space station?"

"I don't trust this guy."

Jayne - "Wha, wait? You just sai-"

"Well I meant it."

"Which one?"

"Both of'em. Just do what I say. Better safe than sorry. I aint got you killed yet have I?"

Wash turns to Zoe, "You know, I find that kind of logic deeply unsettling."

"I know baby."

Mal - "Alright, good, everyone shiny? Let's go Jayne."

Mal leaves and Jayne follows with Zoe going last.

"Bye Honey," Wash speaks to the back of his wife as she walks away, "I just said something deeply sarcastic and funny, laugh and tell me you love me."

"I love you."

#---

Mal and Zoe and Jayne float outside of Serenity. When Mal turns and sees the golden words of Serenity on the side of his firefly peppered with tiny black circles he groans on the inside.

"Alright," He says, "Let's get this thing hooked before we float right on by."

Three large metal pipes waved from beneath the spacestation like the hybrid tentacles of an android jellyfish. The spacestation was large and ominous and half of its bulk had been replaced by the guts and wires of the ship searching for their destination.

"What do you think happened to it?"

"An explosion." Mal had seen plenty in the war.

"A fight?"

"It's too clean. See that section to the left, with the lights?" He points, "I'd say for some reason or another our captain had to self-destruct portions of his charge. He sealed it off, redirected the ships energy output to just encompass his living area. Insurance against whatever power drain the explosion cost him."

"What do you think happened?"

"Don't know. But you see that shadow over there, orbiting this station like a moon or a satellite? That to me looks like a Reaver ship."

"Shit. You think they're still in there, somewhere?"

"I doubt it or our man still wouldn't be alive."

Zoe speaks as stable wisdom, "I don't like this. Something feels off. One man survives a Reaver attack and it happens to be the captain? Large station, many people were on this boat."

"What're trying to say? Y'think we're bein' lured into a trap?" -Jayne.

"I don't know. I'm just saying I don't like it."

Mal - "There's also the chance he wasn't the original captain but he seemed convincing in the role."

By this time they had hooked the tentacles to the outside of Serenity. The cables' slack immediately tightened, slowing the ships progress towards nothing. After a few more feet it would stop altogether. Mal continues, "Zoe's got a good point but if this man's agenda aint straight it isn't because he plans on killin' us. He could've done that already."

"Maybe he's got some Reavers stashed away." Jayne speaks rapidly, paranoid, "And they only let'em live to lure in unsuspecting dopes like ya'll and feed off their corpses."

"First off, that's stupid. Second, there'd be more variety to the debris if that were the case."

"Maybe they eat that too."

This is answered with two very peculiar looks.

"Well, that's done." Mal says, glancing over the hooks one last time " Let's get back inside, it's freezin' out here."


	5. Amusing Talk of Tea and Secret Agents

"Alright, toss'em in." Zoe stands like an ant on the outside of Serenity against the backdrop of the metal behemoth Charlotte. She, Kaylee, Inara, and Book are patrolling the outside of the ship one small section at a time, picking off the black neutralizer and tossing them in a bag.

Kaylee holds one up to her face, examining it with the fondness that a parent would examine a child, "It's so small and cute. What're we gonna do with'em? We can't just toss them back out into the black. They'll be so lonely out there."

"I'm sure you mean that we can't leave them for someone else to run into, right?" Zoe responds.

"Well, that too. You think we could sell'em? I'm sure this many could fetch a price."

"Hmm," Book, "I s'pose some of the outlying planets could use the metal and some of the more curious ones would enjoy tinkering with the technology." He drops one into the bag the trailing Inara is holding open for them. He stretches his petrifying back to loosen it. Even though his body was kept in its prime longer than most he could feel it aging. He gazes out at the stars with some longing, "There are a lot of worlds out there."

"Gettin' nostalgic on us Book? You aint goin' to relapse on us are you? God wouldn't be pleased with you killin' all those men again."

"What?" - Zoe.

"Don't pay any attention to her," Inara says, "She likes to fill in the gaps of our mysterious passenger with childish flights of fancy. Her latest tale involves our Shepherd here as a secret spy for the alliance."

"Really? You aint going to turn us in, are you Book?"

"Yeah! You aint going to throw the book at us, are you!?" - Kaylee.

He laughs, "Maybe for your puns." He tosses another neutrilizer into the bag, "But I doubt I'm in much shape to even pick up a book, much less throw one. Not to change the subject from this most interesting topic but I was curious as to why the Captain took Jane on board with him to meet our host? I would have assumed it would have been you Zoe."

She shrugs, "Our Captain works in mysterious ways."

"Sounds like another fellow I know."

* * *

The door to space behind them closed as Mal and Jayne floated down to the floor of the space that separated what was left of a space station from what wasn't. A process of pressurization began to initiate saturating the room with a peculiar hissing sound. At the end of this process the metal doors would slide open to grant them access to the inside of the ship and an awaiting Captain Grey. While they were waiting, Jayne spoke:

"So why'd you bring me on board, huh? Why couldn't I've just stayed in the ship? This is more of'a two man meeting, wouldn't ya say? Captain's special and all?"

Mal removed the gloves of his space suit, "I brought you on board because I wasn't going to leave you in the ship with the Doc and his sis. Now don't go gettin' solemn on me, that little incident is mostly in the past, however, no need to be puttin' you in temptation's whorish path unless need be."

"So you brought me instead within talkin' distance of the only alliance man living within millions of miles?"

This idea struck Mal dumb and he stood, perplexed at his own thought process for a few seconds, "You know, I never really thought of it that way."

"Sometimes I really don't know why I take your orders."

"I pay."

Jayne consents, "There's that."

The door finally hisses open and emits some gas into the room as it does so; when the smoke clears Captain Grey stands in a posture that indicates severe discipline as a child and an extraordinary amount of pride as an adult.

"Captain Reynolds, pleasure to meet you. And you brought a guest I see."

Mal unclasps his helmit and tucks it under his arm, Jayne follows suit, "Hope that don't make you too uneasy Captain. I would have him pickin' berries off my ship but, truthfully, he's kinda useless at the tedious stuff."

Jayne - "Fair 'nough."

"No, I'm not uneasy. I like to think of myself as a good judge of character. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't bring your whole crew on board with you. Do you have any passengers onboard your ship?"

"Just my crew and one passenger. A pilot; my first mate Zoe; Jayne here; and an engineer. Passengers a shepherd we picked up back on Persephone. Crew's busy tidying up and I didn't wanta impose on you."

"Actually I could have the entire Persian army visit me and I wouldn't feel imposed on."

They were now walking down a single hallway. Jayne was eyeing the keypads on the locks they passed with more than just a passing curiosity.

"Say," Captain Grey announced, "I don't suppose you fellows would like some tea?"

Jayne looks up, frightened, "Tea? Lotsa bad memories I got go along with tea."

Mal gives Jayne a strange look while speaking to Captain Grey, "Actually it don't sound half bad. But, since I'd fell guilty about resting my laurels while I got my crew doin' all the work I expect some sort of tale from you. It'd make me feel a whole lot more at ease."

A shadow falls across Grey's face portraying him in an ominous manner. Then he barks out a gay laugh, "It's been so long since my demons were anything other than phantoms in my heart. It's a wonderful feeling to know that they are indeed real and do haunt me every day. It won't be an easy tale for me to tell, but, in the interest of good company eased tensions I'd be happy to. I have to say, I am excited."

As they follow Grey down the hallway Jayne feels a compulsion to ask a question that's been on his mind since he heard the word tea, "I don't s'pose you have any beer?"


	6. Grim's Tale

The explosive sound of fiz is heard as Jayne opens his Beer.

"I hope you don't mind a long tale. I could tell you what happened with a few words, however, I don't think you could fully appreciate my...metamorphoses unless you take the time to listen to me as I explain all the little building blocks that were used to create this monument to tragedy. ("I don't want to interrupt your flow there, but you 'spose you could use less words to describe things? Or, you know, less lofty ones?")

Sorry, yes, I'll try. The first event that I can tell that is a correspondent to the obliteration of my sanity (-.-)...oh yes, sorry, story telling used to be a hobby of mine back when I was second in command. Oh, I can tell by your look that you were under the impression I was always the captain, no, that's not true, I have been captain here for about seven years. Yes, it's true that it was around the time that the war stopped being a war and became more about...keeping the peace. ("No threat meant but I'd 'preciate it if you'd skip ahead a few kilos")

Right, once again, sorry. It just occurs to me that I have acquired a certain penchant for self-indulgence when pertaining to conversation. It has been a very long time you see. But now I'm repeating myself. Hold on, let me take a sip of tea. There. Ok. I'm ready.

The first event I can remember being a contributing factor to this horrible, looming event was the day I was called down to the science lab. The chief science officer, Doctor Wharton, had just finished one of his projects and was ready for it to be taken down to the testing lab. And me, although I was second in command, I was also the most useless person on the ship at the time. Second in command was more of a training position, an acknowledgment by the government of certain innate talents an individual possesses. With no actual useful skills I was called upon to do the more mundane tasks such as delivering, or cleaning, or, you know, whatever other tedious task that needed to be done but no one was willing to condescend to do.

The Doc's lab was cold, it always was. I never knew exactly why but I always imagined that he kept it that way to test his own resilience; 'Science,' he used to say, 'Is a discipline. And no man can make any useful advances in it unless they possess inhumane discipline. Men, by nature, are weak, science is not of man, but of life and God.' Man he could make me feel so useless. I can feel myself slipping back in time already. I wasn't as composed then as I am now. I was so clumsy. This one time when I had to take this little container down to testing I ended up dropping it. The liquid inside ate through the floor below me and the floor below that and then the floor below that before becoming too diluted to continue its descent. I was so lucky that I didn't end up killing someone. Nearly got kicked off the boat for that one. But my digression is annoying, I'm sorry. So about the Doctor. His lab always had these fluorescent lights that made men look harsh under it and they always reflected off the rims of the Doc's glasses just so, like a mad scientist in a movie, and it gave me the shivers. Still does when I think about it. 'Got it. You can count on me' I said in which he replied, 'I'm not convinced. I cannot stress how important what you are carrying is. DO NOT DROP IT.' The light was doing its reflection trick when he said those threatening words. I nearly dropped it right then. But securing my grip on it I left to take it to testing.

Testing is one of those off limit areas to all crew and personnel except those who run it, the doc, and Captain Sanford. Every time I dropped something off there, except this one time, I walked in, dropped off what I had to deliver, and left ('You got another beer?') Yes. Help yourself. The fridge still works and the Captain was a pretty heavy drinker, and I never do. They're pretty old, though. ("Had worse.") So this time when I walked in the room the door to the inner sanctum was open. Curiosity seized me and I walked in a few steps. To my left there was this cage and inside, to my surprise and consternation were Reavers. I backed away so quickly that I ended up backing into the lead tester who had just entered. He took what I was holding from me suspiciously, 'Run along now, sir.' They always said the sir with contempt, 'No need to concern yourself with the tedious workings of our lab'. I was more than happy to oblige. I left and went to my room and would have curled up and went through a moral crisis if she hadn't been there waiting for me."

* * *

Captain Grey sets his mild cup of tea down on the table, "I need a refill. Anybody else want some?"

"If you're offerin'." Malcolm responds.

He talks while he grabs the teapot off the stove and begins to feel up the mugs, "I need to take a break for a moment. All these memories are threatening to overwhelm me. Is there anything you need to be cleared up for you?"

"Don't you alliance types have some sort of tea machine? Why the pot?"

He laughs, "Oh, I have a lot of time on my hands and I enjoy to brew it myself. I was talking more of concerning the story."

"Nope."

"Not even about the Reavers?"

"Nope."

"I got one," Jayne says, "What 'bout this chick in your bedroom?"

"Right. Her name was Eliza.

* * *

And she was gorgeous. She had a soft face, large, innocent eyes, fine brown hair that laid gently upon her head and flowed down her face to her cheeks where she kept it cut and these fluffy pink lips. She was amazing and if you can't tell by my description I was lost in her. People say that youth can't love properly, and that may be true, but it was a strong and crippling love. I thought she loved me too, and maybe she did, but a man could make the case that she was just a tease.

I could continue describing her for hours ("I won't mind") however I do have a story to tell and our good friend Reynolds has a ship to run so I'll stop there. Just know that she was my Beatrice...no, I'm sorry, I've had too much time to read these past seven years. She was my angel. My ideal of perfection.

'What are you doing here?' I stammered through.

'Captain wanted to have a word with you. You left your radio back in the doc's lab. Caused the poor bastard to drop some sort of sciency liquid thingy when Cap called for you. Knocked himself right the plumb out. It sounds kinda great. Though it's got Sandy boy ("Sandy boy?")' Oh, I'm sorry, she had this funny way of talking. Part of her charm. I can't do it as well. She meant Captain Sanford. 'He's doubly pissed now. And he was steamin' before. Say, what was it you saw? Oh, I can tell by the look on your face you're not going to tell me. Fine, be that way. I might just have to squeeze it out of you later' Then she left. But before she did she dragged her finger across my shoulder blades. It nearly crippled me. I swear she must be a succubus now that she has left this mortal coil because with just a single touch she could inspire an unbearable longing.

So I went to see the Captain. He was a tall man, a handsome man. You share many of his traits Captain Reynolds. Though I trust your character will prove more substantial in the end. Well he yelled at me for my negligence that caused me to see the Reavers held in the testing room. He asked me to remain silent about it, no, I'm sorry, he demanded I stay silent and I obliged. I was young but I could tell that no good could come of telling anybody. I did feel it was a mistake to have them around people but it was a mistake that was so large that my meager efforts would do little to remedy it and would probably only stir up trouble. So I did stay silent. I regret that decision now.

Things stayed quiet for about a week and then, one day, my duties took me passed the testing lab. The door was open and I could hear the sounds of passion within. The voices, even to my resisting ears, sounded familiar. Walking in confirmed my suspicions as I saw captain Sanford and Eliza entwined in an embrace I only allowed myself in the deepest of my desires. The passion that raged in me scorched the landscape of my heart and scarred me in a way that was irrevocable. My youth died that day. Rushing in I grabbed Sanford and we began to wrestle. Glass shattered at our feet as we tumbled around the room. Sanford was the stronger of us and he shoved me off and against the wall. The container which I had brought down to testing the week before tumbled off its lofty perch on a shelf and cracked on my head. The green liquid mingled with my blood as it ran down my body. I was too passionately fueled to let a little glass imbedded in my skull weaken my resilience. I arose on determination, ignoring the trembling of my legs.

I charged again. During my brief lapse of will, however, the Captain had drawn the sword the alliance permitted him to carry while on duty. Somehow I managed to wrestle it from him and pierce him with it. He collapsed.

Then crying struck me worse than any blow Sanford had delivered. I turned to see Eliza collapsed on the ground, bawling. We must have knocked her there during our tussle. Blood ran down her right arm and pooled on the ground underneath it.  
I ran to her and through her sobs she muttered her apologies. She said she never meant for it to happen. She was just curious and he happened to be down here. She wanted to resist him but he was so strong, she said.

I don't take this to mean that he raped her. No, Sanford was a seducer of woman, not a criminal. I believe that she meant that with his position and power he had influenced her to do something her normal constitution would have prevented her from doing. But I could be wrong. I hope I am. I hope God will forgive me for saying this but I wish that Sanford raped her, forced himself upon her and took her. In that version of the story my Eliza keeps her virtue and her light that so attracted me to her. Yes, now that I have spoken my horrible desires I will amend my story to that. Captain Sanford raped Eliza.

She grabbed my face with her damaged arms and forced me to look at her. Her face was smeared with blood, "Forgive me. Whatever you do, please god forgive me." She was still hysterical and afterwards ran out of the room. That was the last time I ever saw her.

During our dialogue Sanford had risen from his place collapsed on the floor and had made his way to the room behind the tester's lab where the Reavers were kept. I saw him limp to the right of the door after Eliza left. I ran in there to see his hand hovering over a small gray console jutting out of their clear plastic cage.

'I'm dead.' He said, almost in wonder, 'I feel my life draining.'

'Please don't.' I pleaded and upon his face I watched a sneer spread that would rival the face the devil's was as he seduced Eve into biting of the garden's apple and condemning the world.

He hit the button and instantly the Reavers held in the cage were out. There were three of them. Immediately they tore into the Captain and I began to run. I didn't even make it out of the tester's room before one of them knocked me to the floor. I remember looking up at it. I managed to see, beneath the layers of skin woven into his face, his eyes and what I saw there was madness. Nothing but madness. There was no man and now, when I can't sleep at night, that is the image that haunts me. By this time my body had been drained of resolve as well as blood and I could no longer force myself to move. I was gripped by a horrible fear that I was dead. But the Reaver sniffed the air, once, twice, spit at me, and left. I looked to the left and saw these things raping the dead body of my once Captain. Do you want to hear what a monster I can be? When the image of the Reaver's eyes come to me and rob me of my sleep I use that image to placate myself and fall into a peaceful slumber.

I don't know how long I was out but when I awoke I was in the same spot. The Reavers, while I was out, had managed to pummel Sanford's body into the middle of the room. His vacant, black eyes greeted me to my new world. I grabbed the sword I used to kill him and made my way out of the room.

A tale of adventure ensues that would impress Odysseus himself but I will not regale you with my exploits, only summarize the remainder of my journey. I managed to make my way to the cockpit amidst a throng of Reavers. You see, by this time there were more, a ship load more, as you probably can now see. I fear that these creatures still harbor intelligence and an ability to communicate with those whom they see fit to communicate because this is not their territory. They don't belong here.

I had an advantage though. I've deduced, in the years to follow, that what the doctor had been working on and what had spilled on me is a sort of Reaver repellent. I wish I could express what it is more elegantly but I am no scientist. Anyway, I made my way to the cockpit, slaying what I could. There was no living man in sight, but plenty of dead ones. Once I reached the bridge I made a barricade for myself and recorded a message to be set on repeat broadcast over the intercom. I don't know how long I waited for an answer but when I felt confident there were no survivors left I set the self-destruct to implode as much of the ship as I could without endangering myself. Afterward, except for an area I determined viable for my living, I stopped the flow of oxygen and opened all doors to the cold vacuum of space.

This was seven years ago and I have been living here in solitude ever since."

* * *

A/N: I changed the summary. The story I was going to write was different than the one I'm writing right now. I would change the title too but I'm afraid those people that are just browsing wouldn't find it again.

To make the title more clear the guy's name is Grim. Yes, that would make it Grim Grey. Don't eye me like that, I like it.


	7. Trudging Along With Impending Excitement

Mal, Jayne, and Grim were walking the long hallway to the two sliding doors they entered into.

"-alliance still poke its head in?" Mal was finishing his question.

"Frequently at first. They offered to escort me back to civilization. I was too devastated to leave. The trials I had to undertake and the deaths I had witnessed were equal to Dante's himself and left me with a mind too scarred to enjoy the company of modern civilized life."

"I always had a bother with that adjective myself."

"I'm not surprised. So, now they only stop by about once a year or so. They make sure I have food and still am possessed of life so as to need it."

"They don't mind you squattin'?"

"Actually they prefer it. This is a big ship, Captain Reynolds, and though it has been ravaged by the madness of space and those that make their home there, it would not be a surprise to me, nor to my superiors, if there are many valuable secrets still hidden beneath this majestic rubble. Oh, look at that, it looks like your crew is almost done; I don't suppose I can expect you to join me for dinner before you continue on your way?"

"Be mighty delighted. Give us 'bout two hours?"

"Oh...so long? Ok, if you must. Yes, I suppose it's best. There are certain maintenance duties that I still have to preform as sole resident of Charlotte."

"Great then. Don't let those nasty nightmares get ya while we're gone."

"Don't worry, Mr. Reynolds, I have all my nightmares safely stabled."

As Mal and Jayne descended majestically through the space between Serenity and Charlotte Jayne speaks,

"He said treasure."

"No, he didn't."

"You sure? I heard treasure."

"Jayne, you'd hear treasure with your ears covered, see gold blindfolded and taste from the sweet chocolate river of Wanka with your tongue fed to the Mandarin's of Persephone."

"Wanka?"

"Still, go take a look Jayne. See if you can find anything useful. Don't get seen, it's a big damn ship behind us and big damn ships are liable to have big damn cannons, even broken ones, so it's best if we give the Captain no ire."

"I was just askin' if he had treasure. I got some bad feelins stealin' from a man that gives me beer."

"Really?"

"Oh, look at that, they're gone." He jokes and floats off towards the dark spaceship aiming for the opposite side of where Captain Grey has his living area illuminated. After a few moments he disappears into it, just another scoundrel in search of hidden and forbidden riches.

* * *

Footsteps echo through the empty halls of Serenity. Simon and River play an unorganized game of throw the Not Quite Ball Through the Metallic Hanging Hoop in the Ceiling (patent pending).

"I don't see how they do this." Simon says. He jumps up, over his smaller sister, and throws the ball towards the hanging hoop that looks like a washer ring.

"No fair, no fair! I think you're cheating."

The ball bounces to the floor as the ring from its contact with the hoop echoes against the boxes stacked n the cargo hold and down the ship.

"Cheated? And how did I cheat?" Simon leans over his sister in good humor. .

"I'm shorter than your shadow."

"Depending on the position of the sun all men could be shorter than my shadow's length."

"Don't bring Greek structure into the Colosseum. The dirt track is made for spiked wheels, not rulers."

"Actually, the Colosseum was made for rulers."

River was making her way over to the ball. "Rulers. As in Kings. Not the device used to take measurements, a representative of the branch of mathematics that measures shadows, which is what I meant. Simon, you're trying to joke. Odd."

"Yes. I should stop, but seeing you in such a good mood makes me feel like joking. Anyway, we both know why you cry foul. You just can't stand the fact that I'm better than you at something."

River throws the ball against one of the boxes, it bounces off and through the hoop and she smiles triumphantly at her brother. "You can still cut people better."  
Abruptly the mirth is interrupted as River grabs her head. She sees images unintelligible but frightening.

"Mona Lisa! Mona Lisa's in my head!" She falls to the floor, clutching her head, face contorted in agony, "Pretty girl, not right!" She feels reassuring arms cradling her, "Madness! Simon, she's mad! Sisters in pain!" She clutches her brother's shirt tightly in a desperate grasp, "I'm afraid it might be too late to fix her. Simon, is it too late?" Then she blacks out, the image of her brother's frightened face the last thing she remembers before it fades from her mind's eye.


	8. All Jayne With Some Action

Jayne wades his way through the floating debris of jetsam neutralizers with disdain. He slips in between cracks in the shell of Charlotte. His feet hit ground and he turns on his light. As he searched the hallway doors his gut reaction, despite all the tall-talk of Reaver repelling liquids, was to find a weapons storage because it was well known that the Alliance had all the best weapons.

There is a door that is open. He slides it open with a grunt and turns his flashlight torwards the room. A gorram! is forced out of him by two floating bodies that lie carved up in the center of the room. They're skin is hanging off their bones as if they weren't supposed to be attached but were just costumes.

If Jayne was a lesser man he'd start to gag. Steeling himself he leaves the room, muttering, "I gorram hate Reavers."

A few more steps down the hall and he comes to a curious door whose opening pad is lit up. His curiosity peaked Jayne walks up to it and hits the button. It opens and allows him access to a room with a body floating in the middle of the floor amidst a lot glass. As he enters it shuts behind him with a slam. The gravity is turned on and he lands clumsily, with not a little arm waving.

"Weird." In the center of the room there was a man lying in a plane of broken glass, his face wide eyed and oval emitting a silent scream. "He's naked." Jayne complains. His complaint wasn't necessarily true because tattered rags covered the man's body but the areas that were meant to be covered weren't.

In the back of the room is a glass door with a brightly lit hallway behind it that lead to a dead end. Still urge forward by curiosity Jayne opens it and enters only to be dismayed and horrified by a glass cage lining the right wall that housed the long hair of a small human shaped form crouched in the corner; the bloody, scarred skin and grunting noises and lack of personal hygiene clued Jayne into what it was, "Reaver! Reaver! Reaver!"

The sudden urge to run claimed him but as he turned the sound of a door opening greeted him and into the room on the other side of the glass door entered the backside of Captain Grey.

On the left side of the wall, opposite of the Reaver, there were a long line of pushing carts that were frequently used to transport large quantities of goods. These carts had two shelves, a top and bottom, and though the top of the carts were empty the bottom were lined with empty brown boxes whose use was long forgotten. Jayne hid himself in one in haste, cursing and muttering and praying he wasn't seen.

The door to the hallway opens and Jayne sees Captain Grey's feet stop in front of the cage, "Sorry I'm late. I was detained by visitors. Oh yes, I can hear by the growl in your voice that you are surprised as I am. I am making a big dinner to feed our guests. Oh, don't growl at me like that, I understand that food is limited, but they ran into some of the more dangerous debris I unleashed by the self-detonation, I feel obligated to make it up to them." The sound of something sliding can be heard, "There you go. Enjoy. It's still warm." A plate drops onto the floor and Jayne watches in horror as the small, Reaver like woman begins to devour the food with very little delicacy.

As it eats its sinister eyes looks up at Jayne. Caught by the thirst for fresh blood she begins to howl and beat the cage.

"What's wrong?" Grey asks and follows her gaze towards the box where Jayne is hiding. "I don't suppose..." The commander bends down towards the box.

Jayne, feeling threatened, tilts the cart over in his scrambling to escape his cart prison and clambers to his feet. "Now, no need to go gettin' all worked up over this."

Captain Grey's face had a sudden look of confusion as his mind raced over the proper way to handle this situation where everyone wins.

"I'm just gonna go get Captain Mal and we can sort through this." Jayne has his hand up in an unusual gesture of placation as he begins to edge around Grey.

A sudden thought seizes the Captain's mind that a little rebel band wouldn't suffer a Reaver to live and in a fit of unusual unreasoning he shouts, "No!" and begins to wrestle with Jayne.

The small man, though more elegant and trained than his larger and hairier counter part could not over power him in a hand to hand fight and was thrown back into the wall. Jayne opened the hallway door and was halfway through the next room before he was tackled again. He trudged the rest of the way with Grey hanging off of his back like a fullback who was running through a secondary. He reached the door.

"If you open that, I'll die." Grey said, having removed his helmet somewhere in the interim when approaching Eliza's cage.

"Ohh, my conscience hurts so bad." Jayne mocks and reaches towards the door.

In a fit of desperation Grey seizes Jayne's helmet and rips it off of his head and retreats to the center of the room to stand by the dead body of his former captain.

"Son of a whore! Give that back." Jayne turns to face him.

"I can't. I don't know what to do. I can't let you go, hey, stop moving towards me or I'll smash it! Then you'll be trapped in here with me. A catch 22. I can't let you go or you'll tell the Captain and you will try and kill Eliza. I can't kill you, even if I had the nerve, because then I'd be outnumbered. And in order to get out of this alive I'd have to do things that aren't in my character."  
"Look, alright, just give me back the helmet and we can go get Mal, I promise we wo-..."

The sound of a low growl cut Jayne off. Captain Grey turned to see Eliza approaching, growling, free from her cage. The narrow eyes and barred, yellow teeth underneath the threatening curtain of tangled hair did little to ensure Grey of his immunity against the creatures hunger lust.

"I aint part of this quarrel." Jayne says but with the door behind him leading out to space and his space helmet being held by Captain Grey he had been thrust into it, warranted or not.


	9. A Tale of Tragic Circumstance

A/N: I wanted to say something at the end of the chapter, if only to ease my own heart, but it didn't seem right. I'm uhh, not sure what to say actually. I did try to put more chinese in. I actually took chinese in a class before, however, as my grade would attest to, not much stuck. Here's the chapter. I hope I caught all the spelling and grammar errors as I like this chapter very much. If you like it too it would make me very happy. I did want it to be longer for dramatic purposes, because it is the climax, but I didn't want to stretch it out purposelessly. In any case, PLEASE LIKE IT!! No...I'm just kidding, but you know, don't hate it. Ok, no more rambling. What was it I wanted to say?

Right; here's a chapter I like and I hope you like it too.

* * *

The atmosphere in the ship was one of concern. Malcolm stood, along with the rest of his crew, in a pattern that, although inorganic in shape, was held together by River who was curled up on the floor. She was muttering, terrified, to herself.

"What's she mean, doc?"

"I- I don't know. I can't make any sense of it."

"Well that aint no surprise," The shadows of the room nestle in the crevices of Maloclms face; it gives him a solemn appearance, "Alright. I'm going to go get Jayne; the rest of you sit tight, Wash you get her heated, stay ready to show this station our rear burner."

"What," Wash says, "No dinner?"

"I was lookin' forward to a hardy meal as much as the rest of you. I don't know what this girl's thinkin' or what she's seein' but I aint bound to go doubtin'that somethin' nasty out there in her psychic world gots her spooked. Besides, even if it's nothin' it's better to ere on the side of caution. I'll be back in a few."

Zoe says, "I should go with you."

"I don't want to wake this injured beast up. Let's get out of here without making any sort of commotion."

* * *

Malcolm follows the path he saw Jayne take and slips his way into Charlotte. The atmosphere is tense as he shines his flashlight down the dark corridors. His light slips into the room Jayne had opened and he sees the floating bodies, "Jing-tsai..." He, following the same path as his crew member, inevitably comes upon the door Jayne had entered and who was currently engaged in a confrontation with Captain Grey.

He stands, poised, uncertainty guiding his next action as he hears the sounds of a struggle in the next room. His hovering hand is illuminated by the glowing console potruding from beside the door. He listens to the skirmish until he hears the gruff voice of Jayne cry out. He opens the door .

The door, upon opening, vacuumes the room of air and a huge gust of wind obscures Mal's view of the room and causes the occupant of the room to disorient as he loses gravity. When Mal's line of sight is clear he's offered a very unusual scene.

Jayne's floating, off center, in the middle of the room, his hands on his head as he had just, with the luck of God, managed to snap his helmet on as Mal opened the door. Across the room, behind a clear glass door, Captain Grey's wrestling with an unidentified something.

The door slams shut and Malcolm and Jayne are dropped to the floor. Malcolm walks up beside Jayne.

"Jayne, what's going on?"

Jayne's unable, under the awesome circumstances, to find his tongue.

"Xianzai!" Mal urges.

"There's a gorram Reaver in there."

"Tsway-niou." He peers into the door, "Son of a bitch!" He moves closer to the door with a furious purpose to Jayne's chagrin.

"Hey, what're you doin'?"

"Playing hero." His hand moves to open the door but is halted when Jayne says, "Hey! Hey! Yi Shihou! He was feedin' the whore dog! Kept'er locked up and was feedin' her! I say we go, let'em feed'er one last time."

Malcolm mulls over this thoughts as he reflects upon the scene he's witnessing; a mangy Eliza is on top of a cornered Grey who is unaware of his own personal danger and is instead looking up at Malcolm with unguarded fear.

"Screw it." The moment of hesitation ends and with a heart full of grudging resolve he opens the door and, before the woosh of the sound ends, he has his gun out.

"NO!" Grey shouts, but his words reach a stone heart and Malcolm shoots. The bullet finds the back of Eliza. He shoots twice more, moving forward as he does so, and kicks the dead Reaver off from on top of Captain Grey who now has a stream of tears clearing a path down his face.

"Oh God...What happens now? What do I do now?"

Malcolm levels the gun at Captain Grey and says, "You tell me what was going on down here."

After a few moments of silence he clicks back the hammer of his gun to emphasize his point.

Captain Grey, beneath his short black hair had wet eyes that narrow in indignation, "No."

"You clearly don't understand your situation here."

"What are you looking for? Do you want me to explain what evil schemes I've been concocting all here by my lonesome on my Alliance death star?" He raises himself to his feet and his voice takes on a threatened tone of sardonic resolve. The tears had reached his chin and he wipes them off with a fierce swipe of his hand, "Go to hell."

Jayne, unable to contain his itching excitement says, "Come on, shoot'em! I wanna get out of this hell hole!"

A few moments pass and sees no change to the situation until Jayne adds, "Jesus Mal, it aint that hard. Give me the gun." He moves forward to get in a position to take the gun from Mal, but recieves a,

"Jayne." And that one syllable, pregnant with unsaid warning, stops the gun for hire from proceeding with his ambitious plans.

A silent conversation was developing through the connection formed between the two Captain's locked eyes- between Malcolm's earthy, brown irises and Grey's eyes as black as space itself.

"Yo cho yo ging." Malcolm mutters, defeated, and holsters his gun, dissipating the tense situation "We're gonna leave. Whatever thing I did to piss you off is beyond me but I've clearly worn out our welcome."

Grey's eyes were still hardened in resolve but, as he looks over at the corpse on the ground he finds his will drain and he begins to cry, his thin neck submerging within itself with each, racking sob. Unable to support himself any longer he collapses to the floor. He opens his mouth to speak but a noise, unintelligible, escapes and he closed it. His eyes find Malcolm's and he does manage to speak; all that was on his heart and his mind escapes in an "Oh god..."

Pity's embrace wraps Malcolm's heart despite his permanent resistance to its warm and humane touch, and with her, Pity brought that eternal nuisance, Sympathy. "Dahng ran...Look, we got business to attend to further on up the way. We'll swing by on our way back, probably won't be but a weak, and we'll make sure you're ok, give you time to recover." He walks away, telling Jayne to tag along with a hand upon the man's shoulders.

The door slams and the light of the hallway shines brightly in a lonely station. Captain Grey is left, abandoned, sobbing into his hands in solitude with only the mutilated flesh of his beloved to remind him that the world, and its attrocities, were not just a figment of his scarred imagination.


	10. Something Always Goes Wrong

Jayne and Malcolm are two insignificant blots in space as they float down to Serenity, who is, to their horror, being overshadowed by a large and vaguely familiar Alliance cruiser. Letting out a breathless curse he descends.

Upon entering the cockpit Mal is greeted with the large and smiling face of a blonde haired alliance commander who says "Captain Reynolds" with a savoring relish. Malcolm responds with a "Do I know you?" which visibly annoys the commander who happens to suffer from a severe case of delusions of grandeur.

The Commander looks visibly down to his badge which reads Harken and back up to Mal, "Harken. Commander Harken." He summons up a stoic and condescending demeanor, "What is it with you Fireflies and junk? Or is it just you, Captain, is there something about trash you just can't resist."

"Well I did find you again, didn't I?"

"Very cute."

"So, just to satisfy my curiosity, what're you doing here anyway?"

"Routine. Stop by this relic of a magnificent ship every now and then and check upon its inhabitants. And, so, I'm afraid, this time you aren't stealing from useless junk but are, instead, taking from the Alliance."

"Well, as much as I cannot stress enough how much I don't care, I'm 'fraid that I was just paying a dear old friend a visit."

The smile on Harken's lips becomes thinner and his skin becomes a few shades paler, "Well, with one call I can settle this."

"You go right on ahead and make your call." His face disappears from the screen.

Wash looks, from his seat at the little half-circle that makes up his office space, up at Mal and mouths "Jayne?". Malcolm shakes his head twice, signaling to his pilot not to mention it.

Harken's blonde head re-appeared and he looked less smirky and more aggravated in his appearance, "Nobodies answering. Don't suppose you know why that is Captain?"

"Wouldn't have a clue. Seemed just fine when I left him, so, if you don't mind we'll be on our merry."

"Right, that's not going to happen Captain. I'm gonna send my boys on board to check on our patron, also, I'm going to send my boys onto your ship to make sure you stay nice and...still, while we make sure you haven't done anything unlawful."

"Now that don't seem hardly just. Innocent until proven guilty and all that."

"That, Captain, is only for citizens. Tell me, have you ever registered under an Alliance government?"

"Well, I was plannin' on it...Ok hell, I wasn't, but still. You can trust us, aint we just got the most honest faces you ever seen?"

The screen closed leaving the ghostly smirk of Commander Harken against a screen of black.

"Son of a bitch. What just happened? Wash, didn't you see those guys coming?"

"From way off Cap."

"Well why didn't you say something, or you know, hide?"

"Well I tried. Something was interfering with the signal. And in case you've forgotten we got some cables keepin' us pinned to this behemoth and..." The shipped rocked as the cables snapped and Wash put his hands over his controls as if feeling her floating free, "Woah, that was weird. Jayne?" Mal nods an affirmative, "Well whaddya know. Even still we can't run faster than their bullets will catch us. Really, Jayne cut those? I thought he was useless."

Mal shrugs, "It's takin' care of." He starts to go, "Hold down the fort up here and when I tell you, burn it."

"Aiy-Aiy."


	11. Preperations

The Brown Man's Aura leaks determined irritation into the ship's atmosphere. He walks purposefully into the Blue Medical area, dimming it's pale glow just by standing within proximity.

"Doc, let's go."

Simon turns from standing over River, who now lays like a sunflower child from the Earth that was, staring giddily at the ceiling.

"I don't trust her by herself. I want to stay here." Simon says.

"Aint about want, it's about need. I need you to come with me."

River looks over at her brother, a white grin threatening to peel over her face, and says with a sing - song voice, "Go with the angry man. He'll walk, walk, walk you right down into hell."

"Fine," He relents, and in a few moments they are walking purposefully down Serenity's grey hallways, "So where are we going?"

"Jayne's room."

"No, I'm a Doctor, I don't think I can go in there with a clean conscience."

Malcolm opens the door, it slides open and he steps through, "What's that hippo oath you guys have to take?"

"It's the Hippocratic oath."

"I'm going to need you to be breakin' that." He yanks the brown sheet with the deft move of a magician out from in front of Jayne's gun collection.

"I'm not a fighter. I'm nearly useless with a gun."

"Yea, noticed. Now I realize you don't want to be the one slingin' the lead, but as I said, it aint about wants right now. In about two minutes this ship will be loaded with alliance crew members. Aint no time to hide. So you are going to go back into the blue room and you're gonna sit tight. I'd expect you to have company soon, when you get word from me, you shoot." He hands Simon a gun.

Simon is overflowing with information and his face betrays his perplexity. Malcolm sees this and says, "You pull that little trigger thingy and outsprings a tiny little ball of lead. Aint like cuttin' people open and fixin'em. You got anymore questions you ask Jayne there."

Jayne walks into the room muttering a woman's name beneath his breath as Malcolm stalks out. He grabs his item of obsession, a gun named Vera, from his rack. Simon is still standing, adjusting to the situation and Jayne feels moved to straighten him up, "Hey Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that thing that happens to people when you shoot'em and they don't die? You know, that lead sickening thing with the vomiting and the funny colored skin? You know what I'm talkin' about, right?"

"You mean Led poisoning."

"Yeah...We don't want that to happen." He gives Simon two quick taps on the back and leaves. Simon, now adjusted, walks frantically back to River.

* * *

The Strawberry woman sits covered in grease, slumped against the wall of the machine room. She holds a wrench loosely in one hand and her frayed hair and slumped shoulders betray her exhaustion.

"Kaylee!"

"Yeah Cap?"

"What're you doing?"

"Nothin' Cap." Her tired voice undulates up and down, lackadaisically allowing thoughts to escape in words not toned, "Just got finished checkin' the engine for damage. Went over the whole thing. You know how many parts are actually in Serenity? A damn many. Kinda wears you out."

"So is everything ok?"

"Keen as a peach...I don't really understand that phrase. Keen, clear? Or is it good? And a peach is fuzzy and I know for sure keen doesn't mean fuzzy. Or does it?"

"Right."

Zoe enters, "Don't worry cap, I'll get her up and ready; I know what we're doin'."

Malcolm is reassured, "Good." He leaves the room without another worry for Zoe or Kaylee. He makes his way back up to the cockpit.


	12. The Bad Guys

A/N: Sorry for the delay; I got lazy and endings are always so very hard to get right. But I did it and I am very proud of it; I like it the most out of all these little bitty chapters. That's about it. Enjoy the ending.

* * *

The tiny, unseen insect, Fear, buzzes waves of anxiety through Mal's body has he swiftly makes his way towards the cockpit. The future repercussions for his actions represses his mind; they are going to have to move twice as fast and ten times as softly to avoid the arm of the alliance after this. Space, in all its infinite infinity was always too small.

"Malcolm, where are you going?" Book says, having intercepted Malcolm from a side hallway.

"No time for chit-chat Preach, I got mountains to move." Malcolm moves to step around him, but Book too steps to the side.

"You need faith for that, Captain Reynolds," He pauses; Serenity rocks as the large Alliance vessel initiates docking procedure, "You're going to kill those soldiers." Book looks down, his solemn face hiding in the shadows of the ship, "Sometimes at night, while I'm lying down, feeling the ship sail through this space I'm moved to a religious wonder how some gasoline and a few metals keep us afloat in this...nothingness."

"I aint got time for this." Malcolm starts to move around Shephard but a hand, firm, unyielding, and malignant in its potential grasps onto his shoulder and pushes him against Serenities hull.

"I used to think that the very fact that we're flying is a testament to God's greatness...it isn't though. I have realized, just this moment, that what we do here is a perversion. The entire human race has perverted the designs of God; they have made his worlds prisons so that honest men like you, Malcolm, are forced into an exile to preserve what you can of your soul. This ship doesn't use gasoline to fuel it; it's fueled by blood."

Through the ponderous silence that follows Book's speech the footsteps and the voices of Alliance soldiers can be heard echoing through Serenities metallic hallways.

"So," Book says, "I suppose you'll be wanting me with you, to prevent me from having to kill any man myself."

With an affirmation Malcolm gently removes Book's hand from his shoulder and they make their way to the cockpit.

* * *

Kaylee and Zoe, dressed in space suits, are standing over a makeshift device that looks like the coagulation of many different spare, metal parts. The large alliance vessel is looming over their small Firefly, making them appear tiny and insignificant.  
Zoe, "Are you sure this will work?"

"Pretty. I mean, all these parts are good, the mechanics aint that hard. It's sort of a slinging motion." She demonstrates by moving her arm above the elbow back and forth, "So it should."

"Right." Zoe hands Kaylee a stuffed, brown bag.

"Ah come on Zoe; do we hafta just chuck'em out there? I mean, sending them right back to where they came from is kind of cruel."

"They'll have a nice new alliance home."

"Fine." She dejectedly relents and undoes the bag, setting it on one of the ends of the metal makeshift catapult, "But I aint gonna be happy with the cap for awhile."

* * *

The cockpit of Serenity had been invaded by a quartet of alliance soldiers, looking rather silly all suited up with nothing to do. The three firefly crew members: Wash, Mal, and Book, are staring in silence.

The crackle of a radio informs two of the soldiers that something suspicious is happening on Serenities roof. Mal moves his hand down towards his gun in response. A jumpy soldier lifts his rifle and screams, "Don't move ". Mal raises his hands into the air with a smile on his face.

"Just had an itch."

Then with a "You two, go check it out," The alliance soldier dismisses two of his comrades.

"I can't help but notice," Mal says, "That you are suddenly outnumbered."

The alliance soldier stares in silence.

"I know that look," Mal continues, "That's the look of fear. I can tell when someone aint cut out for this." Mal begins to walk towards the side of the room, the Soldier's eyes follow him, "And you boy, you couldn't cut melted butter. It aint your fault, some people's constitutions just can't handle conflict." Mal begins to move his hand down towards his gun and the soldier raises his gun again terrified, the sudden reaction takes the focus of the second soldier off of Shepherd and Wash and over towards Mal, "Easy now. Just got this damned itch I just can't scratch. No matter how many times I peck at it, or stab at it, or shoot at it, it always seems to come back. Maybe not immediately but in a week, or a month, or a gorram year it reappears all big and-"

With two swift blows Book sends the soldiers sprawling to the floor unconscious.

"Well whaddya know, it's all better." Mal hits a button on the intercom, "Jayne."

That word was a gunshot that sent Jayne into action. He was standing in a room, leaning against the wall, arms folded, as the two alliance guards stood watching him and the doctor and the kid. If the two soldiers had been anything other than grunts than things would've been made a little bit more interesting. Seeing as how they were about as low on the totem as two people can get the Doc and his Sis went unnoticed.

As soon as Malcolm spoke Jayne removed a gun from behind his back, fired twice, and killed the two soldiers.

"What the--" Simon began, excited, only to be cut off by Jayne,

"Aint no time. Keep watchin' the Loon, I gots me some work to do."

And he left them there to carry out an objective, given to him by the Captain, to find Inara.

* * *

"Zoe, do it." Mal's voice was static inside of her helmet. She turned to the catapult, struck at a taut wire, and sent the contents of the brown bag, an entire inventory of small, black nuetrilizers, towards the Alliance ship.

She turned to see the helmet of a guard poking out of Serenity's hatch. She walked over, put a foot on the guy's head, and pushed him down. She jumped in after him.

The nuetrilizers began to hit the outer hull of the Alliance ship, one after another.

* * *

Jayne had found two stragglers in the hallways, patrolling for scraps. He sent them to the dark place with two shots. As he turned a corner he ran into a soldier. In his shock he did only what came natural. He grabbed his knife and slit once, fast, across the man's neck. The blood that splattered on his face gave his usual loveable villainy a sinister twist and the look in his eyes was as cold as the Space that surrounded them.

* * *

Kaylee was standing on the edge of the hatch leading down into the insides of Serenity, looking nervously down the hole. The vastness of the universe surrounding her made her appear useless. After what seemed like eternity to her Zoe's voice came over the radio, "Kaylee, it's alright, you can come down now."

Kaylee climbed down to see Zoe, still in suit, standing over the bodies of two soldiers. One's face plate was busted showing a twisted face of agony as the air escaped from his lungs and the other lay, hand clutching a hole that was cut into his neck, blood rising from the wound and settling in the air like fireflies on a moonless night.

Zoe was wiping blood off her blade.

* * *

Jayne entered Inara's shuttle with his gun raised, expecting to shoot wildly. Instead he found Inara bending over the Alliance soldier with a red plate that had tea on it.

"I gotta tell ya," The soldier was saying, "I think I lucked out on the prisoner watc-" He cut off mid sentence when he saw Jayne. He turned violently, sending the tea plate that Inara was holding across the room. Inara fell to the ground.

Jayne shot and the soldier crumpled. He looked at Inara for once without the obvious lust on his face and she looked back at him not with contempt but horror as she saw the blood stains on his face.

Finally she composes herself and asked, "Mal?"

"Cockpit." He turns to leave. Inara rushes past him.

* * *

"Captain." Zoe's voice, tired and breathing heavy, comes over the intercom in the cockpit. The captain turns to Wash and tells him, "Punch it."

"What? Really? Now? We're attached to those guys. Remember? They were boarding us. I mean, if we just take off something's gonna break."

"Just make sure that something aint ours."

With a curse in chinese Wash flips some switches and pushed the throttle forward.

Inara enters the scene suddenly, angry, "What are you doing to these men?"

Malcolm listens with only a passing interest and replies, eyes on Wash's control, "What we had to."

"You can't just kill people whenever you damn well please. These men have lives, wives, a home. You can't just stand adjacent to everybod-" The ship begins to rock cutting off Inara's sentence but she was undaunted. She stumbles her way close to Mal, "You're not above it all. What gives you the right - how can you just-"

Malcolm responds while she searches for words, "I aint above it. I don't like killin' but these men signed up for the army, they new what they were getting into."

"No they didn't. They don't Many of these soldiers are probably from planets no bigger than yours They didn't see the alliance as something worth fighting for; they saw it as a way out. Not everybody is lucky enough to be in the position of enough money to buy a ship."

Jayne had made his way into the cockpit at this point, having followed Inara. Zoe and Kaylee followed soon after. Kaylee was keeping an unusual distance from Zoe, glancing at her from time to time with fear on her face.

Mal ejaculated, "Have enough mo... ?" Then, composing himself a bit more, responds with bitterness, "I earned that money. I didn't want to even start fighting. I had land, family, good friends. I wouldn't have joined the fighting for any number of worlds. Then it was invaded. Men spittin' about governments, and ideals, and goodness. Men talkin' about philosophy and law. Ignorant horse chips who couldn't tell a corn stalk from a bull's ass."

The alliance Soldier's had begun showing signs of life.

Mal walks over to their general area, placing himself in the center of the circle of most of his crew, "Maybe I haven't made something clear to everyone. We've been lucky so far, skatin' under the alliance radar and such, so maybe you all don't know, like those soldiers, what you've signed up for. We keep moving, no matter the cost. We aint white hats. Those notions are left to governments. What we are is survivors and we keep movin', no matter the cost."

"Any cost?" Book asks, the question loaded with spiritual implication.

"Any. And anybody that's got a problem with that is welcome to leave. I'd even set you down home. Aint no man a slave on this ship. We just set in motion somethin' bad. They're gonna start hittin' us harder and meaner and there are some notions about us a few of ya'll are gonna have to buck." Mal holds his gun aimed at the Alliance soldiers. He shoots twice, ending their lives, and his speech, with horrible finality. "We aint the white hats." He repeats, lower, almost as if talking to himself, "We're the bad guys." He stalks out of the cockpit.

The ship lurches and the lurching subsides as the ship begins to accelerate away. Wash holds up his hands in glee, "We're Free " He shouts in jubilation.

The statement lingers over the melancholy crew.

* * *

River and Simon are sitting in the medical room. Simon is sitting on the table, staring into the hallway with some concern while River is holding an invisible object in her hands.

"River, what are you doing?" Simon asks, noticing her eyeing the space above her clenched fist where she believed she held some item.

"It's a wishbone." She says, "They're good. Did you know if you break one you get a wish? Careful though, it doesn't always break right."

She does a snapping motion with her hands and her smile fades to one of horror.

"So," Simon asks, "Did you get your wish?"

"It's no fair They're asking me to pay for it "

"River?"

"I don't want to go outside It's cold and freezing and all the those horrible things you can ignore next to the fire are right there, in your face " She was on the verge of tears, "Simon, I'm scared, you won't make me go outside will you?"

"What, sh-shh Calm down, it's all going to be ok."

"No it's not."

* * *

Mal sits in his room doing nothing when Shepherd Book enters.

"And what can I do you for Shepherd?"

"Wash wanted you to know that he saw something unusual."

Shepherd sits down on a chair facing Mal and the bed to which invokes an, "And?" from Mal.

"I believe he said that while he was trying to keep us all from getting killed, and get us away, he saw one of those orbiting ships that was surrounding that broken station take off. I would assume that our good friend, Captain Grey, had made an escape."

"Alright."

Book wants to say something and Mal can tell. Mal relents, "Ok. Get it out of the way. You want off?"

"Since the first moment I stepped foot on this ship. But no, I'm not going to leave. Do you remember when you asked me what your nature was Malcolm? This world is cold. I know, I've been out there; it can do bad things to a man. Freeze his insides. It'll get rid of the fire inside, flame by flame, until all that's left is a pile of ashes where the heart used to be. It'll make you uncertain that if underneath anything there's even a soul. Leave you with nothing but that animal urge to survive."

Malcolm looks down at the floor, more astute to the words than he's willing to show, "I feel like you're trying to convert me. And my nature?"

"The world is always trying to convert you, and your nature Mal, is to not let it." Book stands up and goes to the ladder leading up and out of Mal's room. He climbs up and leaves Malcolm alone.

Malcolm stands, removes his gun slowly. An overwhelming irritation over takes him and he strikes at the wall, punching, like always, at phantoms.

* * *

And Serenity floats on through space, slicing a path like a boat through water as they head towards an unknown destination, their waves creating enemies in the wake.


End file.
